(8) I was left.--The words imply left alone. The prophet had just before seen the courts of the sanctuary thronged with idolaters in the full glory of their heaven-defying sin. Now it is a city of the dead, and he is left standing alone in the midst of the dead. He falls upon his face in consternation, and pleads that "the residue of Israel" may not be utterly destroyed. The sternness of the Divine answer leaves no room for hope of any mitigation of the judgment. No mention is made here of those who were to be saved; they were so few among the mass as to have no effect upon the general impression of the vision. Yet they are not forgotten; and to show that they are not, the man in linen is represented in the next verse (11) as reporting that he had executed the command given him.
Verse 8. - I fell upon my face, etc. The ministers of vengeance and the prophet were left in the courts of the temple alone. His human, national sympathies led him, as they led Moses (Numbers 11:2; Numbers 14:19) and St. Paul (Romans 9:1-3) to undertake the work of intercession. With the words which had been the keynote of Isaiah's prophecies, probably present to his thoughts (Isaiah 37:32, et al.), he asks whether Jehovah will indeed destroy all that remnant of Israel (comp. Ezekiel 11:13) who might be as the germ of hope for the future.
9:5-11 The slaughter must begin at the sanctuary, that all may see and know that the Lord hates sin most in those nearest to him. He who was appointed to protect, reported the matter. Christ is faithful to the trust reposed in him. Is he commanded by his Father to secure eternal life to the chosen remnant? He says, Of all that thou hast given me, I have lost none. If others perish, and we are saved, we must ascribe the difference wholly to the mercy of our God, for we too have deserved wrath. Let us still continue to plead in behalf of others. But where the Lord shows no mercy he does no injustice; he only recompenses men's ways.
And it came to pass, while they were slaying them,.... That were in the city:
and I was left; in the temple; and the only one that was left there, the rest were slain; for there were none marked in the temple, only in the city, Ezekiel 9:4;
that I fell upon my face; as a supplicant, with great humility:
and cried, and said; being greatly distressed with this awful providence:
ah, Lord God! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel; the ten tribes had been carried captive before; there only remained the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and these were now threatened with an utter destruction:
in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? shown in the destruction of men, both in the city and temple, by famine, pestilence, and sword.
and I was left; in the temple; and the only one that was left there, the rest were slain; for there were none marked in the temple, only in the city, Ezekiel 9:4;
that I fell upon my face; as a supplicant, with great humility:
and cried, and said; being greatly distressed with this awful providence:
ah, Lord God! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel; the ten tribes had been carried captive before; there only remained the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and these were now threatened with an utter destruction:
in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? shown in the destruction of men, both in the city and temple, by famine, pestilence, and sword.